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By Fred Itua, Abuja
Afam Ogene is a member of the House of Representatives from Anambra State. He is one of the most combative voices in the Nigerian opposition and, as leader of the minority caucus in the House of Representatives, one of the few lawmakers willing to say in public what most of his colleagues will only whisper in private.
In this no-holds-barred interview with Daily Sun, Ogene does not merely defend Peter Obi’s decision to abandon first the Labour Party and then the ADC for the newly activated NDC. He goes further, naming President Bola Tinubu as the architect of the successive crises that have dogged the opposition, accusing INEC of taking eight months to comply with a Supreme Court order, and dismissing the ADC’s Atiku Abubakar project as a political combination that excites nobody.
On voter suppression, on the new electoral act, on former President Jonathan’s rumoured return to the ballot and on whether Nigeria can survive four more years of the current administration, he pulls no punches. This is the opposition’s case for 2027, made without apology.
There are 36 state governors in Nigeria. Our people believe that for you to win an election convincingly, you should at least have one or two governors as part of your team or your party in order to get the national spread. Your new party, the NDC, appears not to have one, at least for now. Do you see that as a possible impediment to your victory during the next election, which will happen next year?
Far from it. It is even a plus. Well, if you take Mr. Peter Obi’s outing in 2023, he did not even have a councillor, yet he achieved what he achieved. On the flip side, there were at least three sitting governors or more who ran elections for Senate, one third of their states, and they did not make it. So if sitting governors did not make it, who told you that the current sitting governors can sway their people to vote in one particular direction, except if they have created different benefits for their citizens? If they provided all-round security for them, if they have given them cheaper, more affordable and constant electricity, if they have made life more liveable for them, that is the only time you can move the people. The only people they can influence is the cluster of political appointees and hangers-on that hover around them.
But people advance the argument that for you to run an election successfully, you need some financial backers. That was one of the problems your former party, the Labour Party, had in 2023. Do you share that view, sir?
I do not. I did not spend one night and I won an election.
But it did affect Peter Obi’s chances as well because he did not have the kind of funds his opponent had?
It did not affect him. What affected him was state-sponsored stealing of the election results.
When you say state, the man in government was not the president then. So who was responsible? Was it the party or the government that sponsored it?
Who was the national leader of that party? Is there any difference between the party in government and the government itself?
There was an argument too that the party in power then did not support the current president.
That is not true. In politics, we can pretend to be enemies. Only recently, President Tinubu said that he took over from himself. I am sure you heard that. He was the national leader of the party, even with the sitting president. Even at the time that some people wanted the president to stand with Senate President Ahmad Lawan, it was the same Northern Governors, led by Malam Nasiru Rufai, who went to him to say that power had to devolve to the South. So it was the same government.
The question people may love to ask is: you were in ADC for just a few months with Peter Obi, then hurriedly moved to the NDC. There are rumours and media reports about what happened, but the full history of what transpired is not widely known. As an insider and the leader of a caucus in the House of Representatives, can you give us at least some inkling into what actually happened and what pushed you to follow Peter Obi to lead the party?
There is nothing hidden. There were no secret agreements. What happened was, from the Labour Party, we all saw the shenanigans that were going on. From Barrister Julius Abure not wanting to open the space to other players, preferring to keep the party under his shadows. Mr. Peter Obi and some of us were saying that this is a political party and the only way we can have enough spread is to open the party and let others come in. That continued until external influences came in, and we sought God’s judgement from the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court, on 4th April 2025, effectively stated that Abure’s tenure was over. By some curious logic, INEC still kept him as chairman until Mr. Peter Obi left the party. When he announced his departure, and we indeed went to Enugu on 31st December 2025, four days later INEC, without any compulsion, issued a statement saying his tenure was over. So it took them eight months to obey a Supreme Court decision, and they only did that because Mr. Peter Obi had left.
Now, fast forward to ADC. Mere intent to enter a political party does not translate to membership of that party. Mr. Peter Obi only became a member of ADC on 7th March 2026. I became a member the next day, 8th March 2026, in my own village. Ask yourself: how come all of January and February, until Peter Obi registered, we did not hear much about Nafiu Bala, even though he filed the case on 12th September? Do you think Obi’s registration as a member immediately triggered the government’s alarm and they tried to accelerate and fast-forward their plans? Remember, Mr. Peter Obi had openly stated that the government of the day did not want him to run in this election, but that he would be on the ballot. I do not think that any functionary of government, from the President’s spokesperson to the Minister of Information or the spokesperson of the APC, ever debunked that. None of them did. Rather, we saw them trying to do exactly that. And so for Mr. Peter Obi, in whom the people have invested so much goodwill as a standard bearer, it would be foolhardy of him to remain in an ADC that was already encumbered with litigation. We tried. We stayed back and attempted to see if it would be resolved. I was at the Supreme Court when they said to restore the status quo ante-bellum, which the INEC chairman had interpreted on his own whims. So how can the Supreme Court then say that was wrong? They cannot.
So what about those who still peddle the rumour that he left the ADC not because of the court cases, but because he felt he would not stand any chance against the likes of Atiku?
I was also going to come to that. I had told somebody that in the part of the country I come from, you do not push your father to the ground in order to save your mother. That would be even more sacrilegious. When you enter a political party or an association, there are certainly irreducible minimums. Mr. Peter Obi would not, simply because he had run with Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President, or because he has enormous respect for him, agree to shortchanging his divide of the country. Remember, I told you that the governors of northern extraction were the very people who insisted that power must come to the South. So by convention, the South still has another four years. Why would Mr. Peter Obi sit there and trade the place of the South for a larger Atiku Abubakar to become the candidate? That is one. Two, you do not do the same thing the same way and expect a different result. Four years ago, the problem that led to the PDP’s total paralysis was the same issue. Now Minister Nyesom Wike stated that you cannot hold both the national chairmanship of the party and have your candidate come from the same region. Atiku refused. Today, what are we seeing in the ADC? Senator David Mark is national chairman, with due respect to him, and Atiku Abubakar is angling to be the candidate. How can that combination excite anybody from the South, or even fair-minded people from the North?
The argument is that the Presidency, rightly or wrongly, is behind the crisis you had in the Labour Party and then the ADC. How are we sure that the same crisis will not find its way into the NDC before the elections?
I do not know why you are putting conjectures. When they themselves have said openly that they are the seen hands, not unseen, that festered this crisis. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu told the Senate President that he would send him to the other side to scatter them. A few days later, his Chief of Staff, at a public event, told Honourable Leke Abejide that he should not relent, that he should stay in ADC, that he should not move to the NDC, and that he should in fact invite not a few but many people to come and scatter them. All of you journalists took it for a laugh. So when we say these things, we know that there are forces behind this. It is quite clear that it is the government. But will they come this way? They will try, but they will surely fail.
Have there been any attempts so far to instigate any in-house crisis, as we saw in the Labour Party?
There have been several. Government works in mysterious ways. When I say government, I mean those with executive power. They have thrown the kite to say NDC was not properly registered. They are testing the waters to see if it will stick so that they can follow that route. But we have also told them that NDC is not a new creation. NDC filed for registration in 2017. Then INEC wrote to say their logo, with the two fingers, resembled that of APC with the broom. I do not know where a victory sign and a broom are alike. The victory sign has two fingers drifting apart, while the broom sticks together. Furthermore, it is APC that should protest if they believe the logo is an imitation. They would be the ones to say it would confuse their voters. When INEC did that, the party simply went to court to say that INEC was bullying them. The court said: register them. These two logos are not alike and it is not your business. That is how, when Miputo came in as chairman, he simply implemented the court order.
There were also rumours that NDC was initially registered as a platform for former President Jonathan, and the rumour that he will still likely pick a form on the platform of the PDP is still very real. He has not dismissed that. He even gave life to it last week when he hosted some persons. If, by chance, the former president decided to run on the platform of the PDP, and knowing full well the relationship he enjoys with Peter Obi as a very close ally, where would that place Mr. Obi as somebody who respects friendship?
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Well, I do not thrive on rumours. What I can say is that, up to two weeks ago, I know that the national leader of the party, Senator Yerima Shettima, did discuss with him about the possibility. He said no. He preferred to remain the statesman that he is. I do not know what changed when one faction of the PDP went to him and we began to hear he was considering it. But should he consider it, he is welcome. The more the merrier.
Would that not further deplete your space? Instead of the three-horse race we saw three years ago, with Jonathan coming on board and three major candidates coming from the South, that gives the incumbents a better chance of securing votes from the North and likely winning.
Is he not from the South? Should he not be worried? And do you know whether Rotimi Amaechi will run from the South South?
He has not told us, unlike Jonathan…
Jonathan too has not told you. He said he is considering. In the case of Amaechi, he has said nothing. He is just playing a game. Everything is on the table. All the cards are facing up. But friendship does not obliterate the bond of being a flag bearer for the Nigerian youths and women, which Mr. Peter Obi represents today. Mr. Peter Obi consulted widely, and I know that former President Jonathan was one of those he consulted, along with several others. I do not think that former President Jonathan will ever stand in Peter Obi’s way. He would always support his political quest, just as Mr. Peter Obi supported him.
There is one key question. In 2023, there was a major problem of voter suppression in many parts of the country. Even in Lagos State, where Peter Obi won, the argument was that had the will of the people been allowed to prevail, the figure would have been even higher. In Rivers State, allegations of voter suppression were also made. Are we seeing a repeat of that? And will we see a different Peter Obi or his supporters who will mount resistance this time, or will he once again sit back and allow the rule of law to take its course?
When you say sit back, I do not know what else you wanted him to do. How many times did former President Buhari lose elections? How many times did former President Atiku Abubakar lose elections? They are not known, outside of going through the judicial processes, to have taken to the streets or called out people to engage. Mr. Peter Obi will be the last person to endanger anybody’s life for political reasons. Having said that, the Obedient Movement is an organic movement that is not controlled by Mr. Peter Obi. How they decide to guide and police their votes is up to them, and it is not something they should be telling the public. But know this: as participants four years ago, with the benefit of experience, they know what happened and, going forward, they are not likely to allow what happened to repeat itself in their individual areas.
With the current configuration, do you see Peter Obi winning the next elections?
The next election is not about Peter Obi. It is about Nigerians. It is inflation that will decide. It is the cost of living that will decide. It is high petrol prices that will decide. It is insecurity that will decide. It is the general downturn in living standards that will decide. If Nigerians are content with all of that and want four more years of the same, so be it. But if they are tired and want genuine change, they have no choice but to align with Mr. Peter Obi and win the election as they did before.
Do you see Nigeria surviving another four years of this current governance?
We live in a globalised world where the fortunes of one country impact positively or negatively on others. Towards the tail end of last year, the American president, Donald Trump, spoke seriously about the insecurity in this country, and the government at least woke up at the time, even if they may have since returned to slumber. That tells you that the eyes of the international community are on Nigeria, and even more so during the coming elections.
Do you see them playing any role in the coming elections?
Oh, certainly. The issue of the electoral glitch is yet unresolved, and I am sure the international community will look closely in that regard.
You are a member of the House. A new electoral act has been passed with many complaints about how it is structured. Do you believe that piece of law can give us free and credible elections next year?
A lot of members, even from the ruling APC, because of party loyalty and fear regarding nomination forms, will not speak properly. But many of us stood for real-time transmission of election results. When we said real-time, we did not mean that the results must show up on the portal immediately. In some places with network issues, once you input the result, once you have coverage, it drops automatically. But because the ruling party is afraid of the very people they lead, they did not want to go that route. They also tried to circumscribe the space so that if you are denied a ticket in one party, you cannot run on another. But guess what? They are the first victims of that law. From Kastina to virtually all the states, there are cries of anguish coming from within the APC itself. We are not experiencing those cries. But to answer your question directly: there is no law too good to be imperfect, and there is no law too imperfect to yield good results. These laws will be implemented by human beings. Even the security forces know what is right. They are Nigerians. So where someone tries to use extra executive powers to suppress elections, those forces might refuse on that day, even if everything appears to be in place. More importantly, there is no force as strong as the will of the people. If the people are determined, the government of the day will try to do one or two things outside of the rule books, but I am also certain that the long-suffering Nigerian people will stand up to them.
In the real sense of it, you are the opposition leader in the House right now. You have a good number of lawmakers who have joined the fold. Do you see a round of mass defections to the NDC in the coming weeks?
It started last week. I personally engaged with about five of my former members from the Labour Party. And also some PDP people and some APC people from Kastina have already moved to other platforms.
What about NDC specifically?
NDC is a party for everybody. Whoever comes, we welcome them. Even as small as we were, we spoke up when it was necessary. As usual, the tyranny of the majority will always hold sway, but the Nigerian people know who speaks for them.
Briefly, on the other side: you are from Anambra State, where the current governor is not a member of your party and where he won his last election convincingly. Some of you may have challenges returning to the House with a sitting governor who is not a member of the party.
He was the sitting governor when we ran the election in 2023. For his re-election, ask anyone from Anambra or anyone who follows trends there: he ran against himself. Not even the Labour Party, not even the ADC posed any real challenge. APC was there but there was no candidate presented that was going to shake him. A lot of people did not want him, but when they looked around, they said: who do we vote for? Let the man finish and go.
But that means he is no threat to any of you, or even to Peter Obi in Anambra?
Can he stand on the same podium and run an election against Mr. Peter Obi? Mr. Soludo has endorsed President Chidobe. We wish him luck. Let him tell that to the people of Anambra.
